The revenge of the iPod tax

The Conservatives launched their newest new attack site Tuesday afternoon — http://www.ipodtax.ca. In addition to a video suggesting the Opposition leaders would form a coalition that would impose a $75 “iPod tax,” there are links where readers can “learn more” about the alleged tax.

As someone who’s sat in on her fair share of copyright committees during the past few months, I thought I’d look at a few of the Conservative’s main points on this site and add a bit of context.

$75? Really?

The Conservatives are citing the Canadian Private Copying Collective (CPCC) when they use the $75 “iPod tax” figure. They identify the CPCC as “the group that would be given the power to collect and distribute the money taken from Canadians through The iPod Tax.”

The CPCC does distribute the money, but any levy/fee/tax is actually set by the Copyright Board of Canada – a regulatory body that establishes royalties to be paid for copyrighted works and administers the royalties to collectives.

In order for a levy to be considered, an organization has to propose the fee — and in 2003, the CPCC proposed rates around $10 for a one gigabyte recorder and $70 for anything over 10GB.

The Copyright Board, after holding their hearings, certified the rate at $2 for recorders 1 GB and under and $25 for recorders more than 10 GB. However, within six months the decision was appealed and the fee scrapped.

In 2008, the CPCC put forward a new proposed levy for digital audio recorders, which included a suggested rate of $75 for anything higher than 30 gigabytes. That, I’m guessing is where the Conservatives are getting their number.

The Copyright Board never certified a new fee — the Federal Court of Appeal has decided the board can’t set a tariff on any audio players unless there’s government support or a new Copyright Act passes.

Furthermore, the CPCC no longer supports a $75 fee.

“$75 was a preliminary proposal made … before the research had been completed. The CPCC will not propose that rate again,” it says in a written statement. They also wrote that, if the levy was reinstated, they anticipate the figure would be similar to the rates set by the Copyright Board in 2003-2004.

A final point — though the Copyright Board is independent from government, the government can still send a directive of considerations for the board to take into account when making their final decisions. In light of that, it seems highly unlikely that a $75 fee would ever happen.

Everything but the kitchen sink

The site also says the “iPod tax” would apply to anything with a hard drive. Once again, not exactly the case.

The CPCC’s proposals — and subsequent Copyright Board decisions — have always identified audio players that are marketed primarily for playing music. The fee did not include smartphones etc.

Other multi-use items with hard drives could fall under the hypothetical levy, but the decision would ultimately be made by the Copyright Board — and any directives that could also be given by government.

Where the parties stand

On the site, the Conservatives point to a vote in the House of Commons where all opposition parties appear to support the “iPod tax.”

As for the parties’ current stances, the NDP and Bloc both support the levy. But the Liberals have said they wouldn’t support the fee – they would rather create a private copying compensation fund for artists funded by sales from the upcoming spectrum auction.